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Database of Long-Lived Symmetric Cryptographic Keys
draft-ietf-karp-crypto-key-table-07

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 7210.
Authors Russ Housley , Sam Hartman , Dacheng Zhang
Last updated 2013-07-03 (Latest revision 2013-03-12)
Replaces draft-housley-saag-crypto-key-table
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
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Document shepherd Brian Weis
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Responsible AD Stewart Bryant
Send notices to karp-chairs@tools.ietf.org, draft-ietf-karp-crypto-key-table@tools.ietf.org
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draft-ietf-karp-crypto-key-table-07
INTERNET-DRAFT                                               R. Housley
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                   Vigil Security
Intended Status: Standards Track                                T. Polk
                                                                   NIST
                                                             S. Hartman
                                                      Painless Security
                                                               D. Zhang
                                                                 Huawei
Expires: 12 September 2013                                12 March 2013

          Database of Long-Lived Symmetric Cryptographic Keys
               <draft-ietf-karp-crypto-key-table-07.txt>

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.

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Abstract

   This document specifies the information contained in a conceptual
   database of long-lived cryptographic keys used by many different
   security protocols.  The database is designed to support both manual
   and automated key management.  In addition to describing the schema
   for the database, this document describes the operations that can be
   performed on the database as well as the requirements for the
   security protocols that wish to use the database.  In many typical
   scenarios, the security protocols do not directly use the long-lived
   key, but rather a key derivation function is used to derive a short-
   lived key from a long-lived key.

1. Introduction

   This document specifies the information that needs to be included in
   a database of long-lived cryptographic keys in order to key the
   authentication of security protocols such as cryptographic
   authentication for routing protocols.  This conceptual database is
   designed to separate protocol-specific aspects from both manual and
   automated key management.  The intent is to allow many different
   implementation approaches to the specified cryptographic key
   database, while simplifying specification and heterogeneous
   deployments.  This conceptual database avoids the need to build
   knowledge of any security protocol into key management protocols. It
   minimizes protocol-specific knowledge in operational/management
   interfaces, but it constrains  where that knowledge can appear.
   Textual conventions are provided for the representation of keys and
   other identifiers. These conventions should be used when presenting
   keys and identifiers to operational/management interfaces or reading
   keys/identifiers from these interfaces. It is an operational
   requirement that all implementations represent the keys and key
   identifiers in the same way so that cross-vendor configuration
   instructions can be provided.

   Security protocols such as TCP-AO [RFC5925] are expected to use per-
   connection state.  Implementations may need to supply keys to the
   protocol-specific databases as the associated entries in the
   conceptual database are manipulated. In many instances, the long-
   lived keys are not used directly in security protocols, but rather a
   key derivation function is used to derive short-lived key from the
   long-lived keys in the database.  In other instances, security
   protocols will directly use the long-lived key from the database.
   The database design supports both use cases.

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 2]
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2. Conceptual Database Structure

   The database is characterized as a table, where each row represents a
   single long-lived symmetric cryptographic key.  Normally, each key
   should only have one row. Only in the (hopefully) very rare cases
   where a key is used for more than one purpose, or where the same key
   is used with multiple key derivation functions (KDFs) will multiple
   rows will contain the same key value.  The columns in the table
   represent the key value and attributes of the key.

   To accommodate manual key management, the format of the fields has
   been purposefully chosen to allow updates with a plain text editor
   and to provide equivalent display on multiple systems.

   The columns that the table consists of are listed as follows:

      LocalKeyName
         The LocalKeyName field contains a string identifying the key.
         It can be used to retrieve the key in the local database when
         received in a packet.  A protocol may restrict the form of this
         field. For example, many routing protocols restrict the format
         of their key names to integers that can be represented in 16 or
         32 bits.

      PeerKeyName
         For unicast communication, the PeerKeyName of a key on a system
         matches the LocalKeyName of the identical key that is
         maintained on one or multiple peer systems. Similar to
         LocalKeyName, a protocol may restrict the form of this
         identifier and will often restrict it to be an integer. For
         group keys, the protocol will typically require this field be
         an empty string as the sending and the receiving key names need
         to be the same.

      Peers
         Typically for unicast keys, this field lists the peer systems
         that have this key in their database. For group keys this field
         names the groups for which the key is appropriate. For example,
         this might name a routing area for a multicast routing
         protocol. Formally, this field provides a protocol-specific set
         of restrictions on the scope in which the key is appropriate.
         The format of the identifiers in the Peers field is specified
         by the protocol.

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 3]
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      Interfaces
         The Interfaces field identifies the set of physical and/or
         virtual interfaces for which it is appropriate to use this key.
         When the long-lived value in the Key field is intended for use
         on any interface, this field is set to "all".  The interfaces
         field consists of a set of strings; the form of these strings
         is specified by the implementation and is independent of the
         protocol in question. Protocols may require support for the
         interfaces field or may indicate that support for constraining
         keys based on interface is not required.  As an example, TCP-AO
         implementations are unlikely to make the decision of what
         interface to use prior to key selection. In this case, the
         implementations are expected to use the same keying material
         across all of the interfaces and then require the "all"
         setting.

      Protocol
         The Protocol field identifies a single security protocol where
         this key may be used to provide cryptographic protection. This
         specification establishes a registry for this field; the
         registry also specifies the format of the following field,
         ProtocolSpecificInfo, for each registered protocol.

      ProtocolSpecificInfo
         This field contains the protocol-specified information which
         may be useful for a protocol to apply the key correctly. Note
         that such information must not be required for a protocol to
         locate an appropriate key.  When a protocol does not need the
         information in ProtocolSpecificInfo, it will require this field
         be empty.

      KDF
         The KDF field indicates the key derivation function which is
         used to generate short-lived keys from the long-lived value in
         the Key field.  When the long-lived value in the Key field is
         intended for direct use, the KDF field is set to "none".  This
         document establishes an IANA registry for the values in the KDF
         field to simplify references in future specifications. The
         protocol indicates what (if any) KDFs are valid.

      AlgID
         The AlgID field indicates which cryptographic algorithm to be
         used with the security protocol for the specified peer or
         peers.  Such an algorithm can be an encryption algorithm and
         mode (e.g., AES-128-CBC), an authentication algorithm (e.g.,
         HMAC-SHA1-96 or AES-128-CMAC), or any other symmetric
         cryptographic algorithm needed by a security protocol.  If the
         KDF field contains "none", then the long-lived key is used

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 4]
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         directly with this algorithm, otherwise the derived short-lived
         key is used with this algorithm.  When the long-lived key is
         used to generate a set of short-lived keys for use with the
         security protocol, the AlgID field identifies a ciphersuite
         rather than a single cryptographic algorithm.  This document
         establishes an IANA registry for the values in the AlgID field
         to simplify references in future specifications.  Protocols
         indicate which algorithms are appropriate.

      Key
         The Key field contains a long-lived symmetric cryptographic key
         in the format of a lower-case hexadecimal string.  The size of
         the Key depends on the KDF and the AlgID.  For instance, a
         KDF=none and AlgID=AES128 requires a 128-bit key, which is
         represented by 32 hexadecimal digits.

      Direction
         The Direction field indicates whether this key may be used for
         inbound traffic, outbound traffic,  both, or whether the key
         has been disabled and may not currently be used at all.  The
         supported values are "in", "out", "both", and "disabled",
         respectively.  The Protocol field will determine which of these
         values are valid.

      SendLifetimeStart
         The SendLifetimeStart field specifies the earliest date and
         time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) at which this key
         should be considered for use when sending traffic.  The format
         is YYYYMMDDHHSSZ, where four digits specify the year, two
         digits specify the month, two digits specify the day, two
         digits specify the hour,  two digits specify the minute, and
         two digits specify the second.  The "Z" is included as a clear
         indication that the time is in UTC.

      SendLifeTimeEnd
         The SendLifeTimeEnd field specifies the latest date and time at
         which this key should be considered for use when sending
         traffic.  The format is the same as the SendLifetimeStart
         field.

      AcceptLifeTimeStart
         The AcceptLifeTimeStart field specifies the earliest date and
         time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) at which this key
         should be considered for use when processing received traffic.
         The format is YYYYMMDDHHSSZ, where four digits specify the
         year, two digits specify the month, two digits specify the day,
         two digits specify the hour, two digits specify the minute, and
         two digits specify the second.  The "Z" is included as a clear

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 5]
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         indication that the time is in UTC.

      AcceptLifeTimeEnd
         The AcceptLifeTimeEnd field specifies the latest date and time
         at which this key should be considered for use when processing
         the received traffic.  The format of this field is identical to
         the format of AcceptLifeTimeStart.

3. Key Selection and Rollover

   A protocol may directly consult the key table to find the key to use
   on an outgoing packet. The protocol provides a protocol (P) and a
   peer identifier (H) into the key selection function. Optionally, an
   interface identifier (I) may also need to be provided. Any key that
   satisfies the following conditions may be selected:

      (1)  the Peers field includes H;

      (2)  the Protocol field matches P;

      (3)  If an interface is specified, the Interfaces field includes I
      or "all";

      (4)  the Direction field is either "out" or "both"; and

      (5)  SendLifetimeStart <= current time <= SendLifeTimeEnd.

   During key selection, multiple entries may simultaneously exist
   associated with different cryptographic algorithms or ciphersuites.
   Systems should support selection of keys based on algorithm
   preference to facilitate algorithm transition.

   In addition, multiple entries with overlapping valid periods are
   expected to be available for orderly key rollover.  In these cases,
   the expectation is that systems will transition to the newest key
   available.  To meet this requirement, this specification recommends
   supplementing the key selection algorithm with the following
   differentiation: select the long-lived key specifying the most recent
   time in the SendLifetimeStart field.

   In order to look up a key for verifying an incoming packet, the
   protocol provides its protocol (P), the peer identifier (H), the key
   identifier (L), and optionally the interface (I).  If one key matches
   the following conditions it is selected:

      (1)  the Peer field includes H;

      (2)  the Protocol field matches P;

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      (3)  if the Interface field is provided, it includes I or is
      "all";

      (4)  the Direction field is either "in" or "both";

      (5)  the LocalKeyName is L; and

      (6)  AcceptLifeTimeStart <= current time <= AcceptLifeTimeEnd.

   Note that the key usage is loosely bound by the times specified in
   the AcceptLifeTimeStart and AcceptLifeTimeEnd fields.  New security
   associations should not be established except within the period of
   use specified by these fields, while allowing some grace time for
   clock skew.  However, if a security association has already been
   established based on a particular long-lived key, exceeding the
   lifetime does not have any direct impact.  The implementations of
   security protocols that involve long-lived security association
   should be designed to periodically interrogate the database and
   rollover to new keys without tearing down the security association.

   Rather than consulting the conceptual database, a security protocol
   such as TCP-AO may update its own tables as keys are added and
   removed. In this case, the protocol needs to maintain its own key
   information.

4. Application of the Database in a Security Protocol

   In order to use the key table database in a protocol specification, a
   protocol needs to specify certain information.  This section
   enumerates items that a protocol must specify.

      (1)  The ways of mapping the information in a key table row to the
      information needed to produce an outgoing packet; specified
      either as an explanation of how to fill in authentication-related
      fields in a packet based on key table information, or for
      protocols such as TCP-AO how to construct Master Key Tuples (MKTs)
      or other protocol-specific structures from a key table row

      (2)  The ways of locating the peer identifier (a member of the
      Peers set) and the LocalKeyName inside an incoming packet

      (3)  The methods of verifying a packet given a key table row; this
      may be stated directly or in terms of protocol-specific structures
      such as MKTs

      (4)  The form and validation rules for LocalKeyName and
      PeerKeyName; if either of these is an integer, the conventions in
      Section 5.1 are used as a vendor-independent format

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 7]
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      (5)  The form and validation rules for members of the Peers set

      (6)  The algorithms and KDFs supported

      (7)  The form of the ProtocolSpecifics field

      (8)  The rules for canonicalizing LocalKeyName, PeerKeyName,
      entries in the Peers set, or ProtocolSpecifics; this may include
      normalizations such as lower-casing hexadecimal strings

      (9)  The Indication whether the support for Interfaces is required
      by this protocol

5. Textual Conventions

5.1 Key Names

   When a key for a given protocol is identified by an integer key
   identifier, the associated key name will be represented as lower case
   hexadecimal integers with the most significant octet first.  This
   integer is padded with leading 0's until the width of the key
   identifier field in the protocol is reached.

5.2 Keys

   A key is represented as a lower-case hexadecimal string with the most
   significant octet of the key first. As discussed in Section 2, the
   length of this string depends on the associated algorithm and KDF.

6. Operational Considerations

   If the valid periods for long-lived keys do not overlap or the system
   clocks are inconsistent, it is possible to construct scenarios where
   systems cannot agree upon a long-lived key. When installing a series
   of keys to be used one after another, operators should configure the
   SendLifetimeStart field of the key to be several hours after the
   AcceptLifeTimeStart field of the key to guarantee there is some
   overlap. This overlap is intended to address the clock skew issue and
   allow for basic operational considerations. Operators may choose to
   specify a longer overlap (e.g., several days) to allow for
   exceptional circumstances.

7. Security Considerations

   Management of encryption and authentication keys has been a
   significant operational problem, both in terms of key synchronization
   and key selection.  For instance, the current guidance [RFC3562]
   warns against sharing TCP MD5 keying material between systems, and

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 8]
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   recommends changing keys according to a schedule.  The same general
   operational issues are relevant for the management of other
   cryptographic keys.

   It has been recognized in [RFC4107] that automated key management is
   not viable in multiple scenarios.  The conceptual database specified
   in this document is designed to accommodate both manual key
   management and automated key management.  A future specification to
   automatically populate rows in the database is envisioned.

   Designers should recognize the warning provided in [RFC4107]:

      Automated key management and manual key management provide very
      different features.  In particular, the protocol associated with
      an automated key management technique will confirm the liveness of
      the peer, protect against replay, authenticate the source of the
      short-term session key, associate protocol state information with
      the short-term session key, and ensure that a fresh short-term
      session key is generated.  Moreover, an automated key management
      protocol can improve the interoperability by including negotiation
      mechanisms for cryptographic algorithms.  These valuable features
      are impossible or extremely cumbersome to accomplish with manual
      key management.

8. IANA Considerations

   This specification defines three registries.

8.1. KeyTable Protocols

   This document requests establishment of a registry called "KeyTable
   Protocols".  The following subsection describes the registry; the
   second subsection provides initial values for IEEE 802.1X CAK.

8.1.1. KeyTable Protocols Registry Definition

   All assignments to the KeyTable Protocols registry are made on a
   specification required basis per Section 4.1 of [RFC5226].

   Each registration entry must contain the three fields:

      - Protocol Name (unique within the registry);
      - Specification; and
      - Protocol Specific Values.

   The specification needs to describe parameters required for using the
   conceptual database as outlined in Section 4.  This typically means
   that the specification focuses more on the application of security

Housley, et al                                                  [Page 9]
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   protocols with the key tables rather than being a new security
   protocol specification for general purposes. New protocols may of
   course combine information on how to use the key tables database with
   the protocol specification.

8.1.2. KeyTable Protocols Registry Initial Values

   Protocol Name: IEEE 802.1X CAK

   Specification: IEEE Std 802.1X-2010, "IEEE Standard for Local
      and Metropolitan Area Networks -- Port-Based Network Access
      Control".

   Protocol Specific Values: there are two:

      - A Key Management Domain (KMD).
        A string of up to 253 UTF-8 characters that names the
        transmitting authenticator's key management domain.

      - A Network Identifier (NID).
        A string of up to 100 UTF-8 characters that identifies
        a network service. The NID can also be null, indicating
        the key is associated with a default service.

8.2. KeyTable KDFs

   This document requests the establishment of a registry called
   "KeyTable KDFs".  The remainder of this section describes the
   registry.

   All assignments to the KeyTable KDFs registry are made on a First
   Come First Served basis per Section 4.1 of RFC 5226.

8.3. KeyTable AlgIDs

   This document requests establishment of a registry called "KeyTable
   AlgIDs".  The remainder of this section describes the registry.

   All assignments to the KeyTable AlgIDs registry are made on a First
   Come First Served basis per Section 4.1 of RFC 5226.

9. Acknowledgments

   This document reflects many discussions with many different people
   over many years.  In particular, the authors thank Jari Arkko, Ran
   Atkinson, Ron Bonica, Ross Callon, Lars Eggert, Pasi Eronen, Adrian
   Farrel, Gregory Lebovitz, Sandy Murphy, Eric Rescorla, Mike Shand,
   Dave Ward, and Brian Weis for their insights.

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10. Informational References

   [RFC3562]  Leech, M., "Key Management Considerations for the TCP MD5
              Signature Option", RFC 3562, July 2003.

   [RFC4107]  Bellovin, S. and R. Housley, "Guidelines for Cryptographic
              Key Management", RFC 4107, BCP 107, June 2005.

   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              May 2008.

   [RFC5925]  Touch, J., Mankin, A., and R. Bonica, "The TCP
              Authentication Option", RFC 5925, June 2010.

Authors' Addresses

   Russell Housley
   Vigil Security, LLC
   918 Spring Knoll Drive
   Herndon, VA 20170
   USA
   EMail: housley@vigilsec.com

   Tim Polk
   National Institute of Standards and Technology
   100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8930
   Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930
   USA
   EMail: tim.polk@nist.gov

   Sam Hartman
   Painless Security, LLC
   USA
   Email: hartmans@painless-security.com

   Dacheng Zhang
   Huawei
   China
   Email: zhangdacheng@huawei.com

Housley, et al                                                 [Page 11]